Forgotten (Currently Editing)

Chapter Twenty-Four: Taken

Chapter Twenty-Four: Taken

~*Aric*~

   Aric pulled open the door to his father's study, more than a little heartsick at leaving Katalina here alone. He'd have to talk to Sam about finding someone to keep an eye on her.

   As Aric entered, Paul looked up at his son. "Son," he greeted with an incline of his head. Aric noticed something off about his father, something that seemed to affect him deeply.

   Aric asked, "Where's Mom?"

   Paul's face tightened, twisted in what seemed in pain before he answered hopelessly, "I don't know." Aric was almost to surprised to even blink. His father didn't know where his mother was? They were mates, surely that had that bond.

   "What do you mean? Can't you feel her?" Aric wondered, crossing his arms and wondering. Paul looked at his desk as if it were the most important thing in the world.

   "No, she's blocking me." He informed me, his voice cracking. This wasn't a normal sound to appear from his father's mouth.

   "And for a good reason," a calm voice said. Paul's head snapped up, and he stood so abruptly that he knocked over his chair.

   "Jillian!" He said, sounding too happy for his own good. Jillian stayed at the door, but her eyes narrowed cautiously. Aric glanced between his mother and father and he knew that he had to figure it out. Momentarily, he forgot about Katalina and focused on his parents.

   He needed to know quick because they were on a deadline. "What's going on?" Aric demanded, watching as Paul's eyes drifted slowly from Jillian to Aric.

   "Aric," he tried. Jillian hadn't moved from her position.

   She said with gritted teeth, "Say it, Paul."

   His father's eyes flared. "You have fault in this, too, Jillian. You could have said something too."

   Jillian's eyes flared, but not the same way. More in a human way. "I'm not ashamed of it, Paul. But for your sake, I stayed quiet. Until now."

   Aric threw his hands in the air. "I'm still here, goddamn it!" He yelled out, furious besides himself. He didn't have time for this. There was still a rouge out there that threatened the life of his mate. Something he couldn't live with.

   "You have to listen, Aric." Jillian said slowly. "Listen before you judge. Please, Aric."

   Aric was startled at the sudden shift in mood. Before it was tense, now it was fear, thick with the unknown. "Uh..."

   "Aric, answer." Paul snapped.

   "Quiet, Paul." His mother shot back, glaring in his direction. Paul looked at her once before looking down.

   "Okay. Fine. But hurry. I have a rouge to kill." He plopped himself down in the chair next to the book case and waited.

   Jillian finally looked at Paul without a hint of anger, but more of fear. At what, Aric didn't know.

   And honesntly, he wished that he hadn't listened.

~* Katalina *~

   Katalina swallowed the piece of toast without tasting, her mind on none other than Aric. She couldn't wait for Aric to come back...And it hadn't even been an hour.

   She wondered if he left yet. She then wondered if the forest would know. This was all so new to her, and she couldn't place the nagging feeling something was wrong.